Boot-tree.



N. E RABER.

I BOOT TREE. APPLICATION FILED 050.6,1916.

1,217,499. Patented Feb. 27,1917.

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A T TOR/V1? V NELSON n. RABER, or AKRON, OHIO, ASSIGNQR T0 THE-3.3. GOODRICI-I COMPANY, on

NEW YORK, N. Y., A CORPORATION on NEW YonK- BOOT-TREE.

To all whom it may concern Be it known that I, NELSON EJRABER, a citizen of the United States, residing at Akron, in the county of Summit and State of Ohio, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Boot-Trees, of which the following is a specification.

This invention relates to trees or lasts for making boots with high uppers, for example, rubber boots, where the leg part of the tree has to besepal'ated from the fore-part and withdrawn from the boot by a longitudinal sliding movement as distinguished from a hinging or diagonal movement such as is permissible with ordinary shoe lasts.

Heretofore it has been the custom to secure the fore-part to the body of the tree by means of a long vertical bolt, the screwing and unscrewing whereof require the expen diture of considerable time and labor. The main object of my invention is to save a large part of this time and labor, and the invention consists in a novel form and arrangement of automatic catch, of which a preferred embodiment is shown in the drawings. 7

Of the accompanying drawings,

Figure l is aside elevation, partly in section, showing a divided boot-last or tree constructed according to my invention.

Fig. 2 is a side elevation, partly in section,

showing the lower portion of the tree with the fore-part and tree-body partially separated.

Fig. 3 is a front elevation, partly in section, of the body and heel-part without the fore-part.

Fig. 4 is a reverse plan View of the struc-. ture shown in Fig. 3.

Fig. 5 is a rear elevation of the fore-part.

Fig. 6 is a top plan View of the fore-part, partly in section.

Referring to the drawings, 10 represents the legor body of the tree with the heel-part 11 thereon in one piece with said leg. 12 is the fore-part, divided from the tree-body along intersecting vertical and horizontal planes 13 and 14: in the usual manner. The tree may conveniently be made of metal,

such as aluminum alloy cast in hollow form. I

Midway of the vertical face 13 on the tree-body is the usual vertically-extending dove-tailed rib 15 engaging complemental beveled ribs or guides 16 formed on the forepart'12, these members constituting an un- Specification of Letters Patent. Pat t b, 27, Application filed December 6, 19 16. S eriaINo. 135,381. V

der-cut tongue-and-groove connection which serves to interlock the fore and heel parts, as to any extreme separating movement in a horizontal direction, either fore-and-aft or sidewise. This connection alone cannot be depended upon fora permanently tight joint at 13, because even if accurately made in thebeginning, the wear of the parts would soon produce looseness and partial separation or gaping in the joint.

17 is a leaf-spring catch secured by screws 18 to the face of the rib 15 near its upper end" and adapted to engage a cross-pin 19 on the forc-part 12, this catch having a curved or rounded toe 20 lying across the path of the pin 19 so as to be automatically displaced by the latter during the engaging and disengaging movements of the treerparts.

The position upon the tree of'the spring 17 and pin 19, and the pressure of said spring, are such that when the parts are to- I gether, as shownin Fig. 1, thespring forces the fore-part against theheel part so as to take up any .lost motion there may be in the dovetail connection and maintain a tight joint, without the use of any additional parts.

The fore-part is positioned and locked upon the tree body by merely pushing it upwardly with suflicient force to produce the automatic engagement of the catch members 17, 19, as represented in Fig. 1. After the boothasbeen built and vulcanized upon the tree it may be stripped or inflated by compressed air through the hollow'tree to loosen it, and the boot and fore-part 12 then started by a sharp pull to disengage the catch, and drawn off from the tree-body 10, whereupon the fore-part can be removed from the boot.

While various forms of spring catches have been proposed for locking together the parts of sectional lasts and boot-trees, they have not been so satisfactory as to come into each other for interlocking 'said parts as to sidewise and fore-and-aft separating movements, and a spring catch, adapted for auto matic engagement and disengagement by means of relative vertical movements of the fore and body parts of the tree, said catch being arranged to yieldingly press the tree parts together at a point adjacent to the lower part of the vertical meeting plane in order to maintain a tight vertical joint between the two.

2. A sectional boot tree comprising fore and body parts engaging and separating by relative vertical movements and having a vertical tongue-and-groove connection, a transverse catch-pin on said fore-part adjacent to its lower rear portion, and a vertical leaf-spring catch-member located intermediate of the vertical joint-face on said body part and secured thereto at its upper end, said spring catch-member residingin front of the catch-pin so as to press rearwardly thereon in the locked position of the parts, and having a rounded toe in the path of said pin adapted to be displaced thereby during the said relative vertical engaging and separating movements of the parts.

In testimony whereof I have hereunto set my hand this twentieth day of November- 1916.

NELSON E. RA ER.

Copies of this patent may be obtained for five cents each, by addressing the Commissioner of Patents,

. Washington, 110. 

